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A recent open house gave visitors a look at Manitowoc's newly expanded Potain facility in India. |
February 21, 2008 • Manitowoc recently welcomed hundreds of customers, dealers, local government officials and colleagues to an open house at its new Potain India facility in Pune, India. The event provided the first opportunity for guests to see the newly expanded factory since Manitowoc, Manitowoc, Wis., acquired it earlier this year from Shirke Construction Equipments Pvt. Ltd., which previously built Potain cranes under a licensing agreement.
TR Badarinarayan, president of Potain India, said the event aimed to give customers insight into the present and the future of the company in India. “This event gave us an opportunity to let customers see the capabilities we have and also to tell them more about our future plans,” he said. “Our previous partners, Shirke, did a great job in creating a solid platform and establishing us as a market leader in the Indian construction industry. We are now well positioned to take that to the next level and help meet India's fast-growing infrastructure demands.”
Manitowoc plans to increase the number of Potain tower cranes produced in Pune and is undertaking a total manufacturing review to streamline operations in line with other Potain factories in Europe and China. There will also be training programs for staff with a particular focus on safety and targeting zero accidents • a hallmark of all Manitowoc factories.
In addition to manufacturing, Manitowoc will expand its Manitowoc Crane CARE customer service program in India. There are plans for a new dedicated facility to handle these operations and to support the growing number of Potain and other Manitowoc cranes in India.
Potain's facility in Pune produces a range of tower cranes. The smallest is rated at 5.5-ton maximum capacity and 164-foot maximum jib length, and the largest crane has a 27.5-ton maximum capacity and a 262-foot jib.
Potain India's sales and service operations are headquartered at the Pune facility. In addition, it has plans to open sales offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai.
